The Randolph senior struggled from beyond the arc in the first half, knocking down just 3-of-10 3-point attempts.

Worse yet, visiting Tapestry had just used a 13-1 run at the end of the second quarter to narrow the Cardinals’ lead to 23-22 heading into the locker room.

“We talked about it at halftime and I just told him, ‘The next one is going in. Trust your teammates,'” Hind’s father Kevin, Randolph’s head coach, said after the game.

“Nobody wavered,” Coach Hind added. “Eventually, (Tyler) just took the game over.”

Randolph’s Kaleb Steward defends Tapestry’s Tariq Eubanks during Tuesday’s nonleague boys basketball game in Randolph. P-J photo by Cameron Hurst

Five treys and 21 fourth-quarter points later, the Daemen College commit’s 38-point night led Randolph to a 65-46 nonleague victory over the Thunderhawks at home.

“He’s worked so hard,” Coach Hind said. “It was Senior Night and he just had this ‘I’ve got this’ attitude and we started rolling and executed better in the second half and then he just took it over.”

“He’s pretty much like Rifleman,” Tapestry head coach, Mike Ester, said of the younger Hind. “He shoots (well). You can’t say anything else about it. He shoots very well and just finishes it up with his free throws.”

Tuesday night’s meeting between the Thunderhawks, ranked No. 10 in Class C by the New York State Sportswriters Association entering last night’s contest, and the Cardinals, who moved to No. 2 in the rankings, began as a defensive battle. Randolph held just a 13-7 lead after the first quarter.

Two 3-pointers by Hind and Kaleb Steward and a three-point play from sophomore Gabe McCoy helped Randolph out to a 22-9 lead in the second quarter, but the Thunderhawks’ 15-10 frame made it a one-point deficit at the half.

“They got out in transition,” Coach Hind said of Tapestry’s run. “We got tired. We had a couple guys who played a lot of minutes and I played a little tighter lineup than I have in the past for defensive reasons. We definitely got a little tired, though.”

Tapestry’s hot streak continued into the third quarter as six straight points from Tariq Eubanks, who finished with 12, and Massai Graham, who finished with 15, gave Tapestry a 28-23 lead with 5:41 left in the quarter.

“They are our one-two punch,” Ester said of the sophomore and junior standouts. “Tariq is fast and Massai has played well inside for us, but I believe that we just needed more.”

Randolph answered back quickly, finishing the quarter on a 13-6 run capped by a 3-pointer by Hind that left one second on the clock.

“Sometimes, that’s all it takes,” Coach Hind said. “If you see one go in, the rest will follow.”

And, they did.

After a layup by Steward tied the game at 38, Hind, himself, went on a 15-4 run to give Randolph a 49-42 lead with just under four minutes left in the game. Hind’s eighth 3-pointer highlighted and capped the run, cashing in off a rebound and assist from McCoy, who finished with six boards, two assists and four blocks.

“It was nice to get settled in, get your feet under you,” Coach Hind said. “Tyler hit that big one at the end of the third and we were just able to start the fourth with confidence. I’m just super happy with the effort from start to finish.”

Aside from his son’s performance, the Cardinals coach was also pleased with his team’s defensive effort — notably Steward’s growth in being able to lockdown Eubanks.

“We’ve seen him a bunch,” Coach Hind said. “Two years now we’ve seen him in the playoffs and my biggest concern was how Kaleb Steward could guard him tonight. He wasn’t able to do that a year ago and really he locked up in man and did a great job of containing him, more so than we had been able to in the part.”

The Cardinals’ attention now shifts to their regular-season finale, a rescheduled meeting with Class B Iroquois on Friday at home.

“(Chiefs coach Todd Kleitz) is a good friend of mine,” Coach Hind added. “It will be a fun matchup.”

Still, the evening’s festivities couldn’t help but make the elder Hind beam — especially with his son’s storied career nearing a close.

“It just never gets old, especially when you’re on borrowed time with however many games we have left together,” he added. “The good news is, he has a good career ahead of him. … We’ll just keep rolling with it.”

NOTES: Hind finished with seven rebounds and four assists while Steward finished with 14 points and six rebounds. … Hind, Steward, Branson Morrison and Riley Clark were honored prior to the game for Senior Night. … Friday’s matchup with Iroquois will take place at 6 p.m.

TAPESTRY (46)

Eubanks 5 2 12, Johnson III 0 0 0, Bell 2 3 7, Jasinski 0 0 0, Graham 7 1 15, Thompson 2 0 4, Matthews 0 0 0, McDade 1 0 2, Wilson 0 0 0, Anderson 2 0 5, Pobywajlo 0 0 0. Totals 22 6 46.

RANDOLPH (65)

Steward 5 3 14, IHind 0 0 0, THind 3 8 38, Morrison 1 1 4, Bushey 0 0 0, Shields 0 0 0, Huntington 0 0 0, Rosengren 0 0 0, McCoy 4 1 9, Clark 0 0 0. Totals 21 5 65.

3-point goals–Anderson, Steawrd, THind 8, Morrison.

Tapestry 7 15 12 12 — 46

Randolph 13 10 13 29 — 65